The Office of the Solicitor General has confirmed that the Government will pay the 48 pending court cases in Marikana by the end of August this year.
The families of the murdered Marikana miners are suing the state and President Cyril Ramaphosa for a billion rand. They also demand an apology.
Last year, about 200 million rand was paid out to victims of the Marikana massacre.
Solicitor General Fhedisani Pandelani says the process of finalizing the claims is underway.
“What remains our focal point is the 48 cases I have in mind that were supposed to start from July 9 to the end of August. Half of which I am pointing out, we were able to reach a settlement. Half of which I’m pointing out, as we sit here, by the time you leave here, 12 or 15 may have already settled, and the rest will have to go to trial, mainly because the parties won’t be able to reach each other on the as to the settlement.”
The Department of Correctional Services provides an update on the progress made in the Marikana trials:
It is ten years since thousands of Lonmin mine workers went against their union and went on unprotected strike demanding 12,500 rand.
Many still do not know what happened to their members on that fateful day in August 2012. About 34 miners died after being shot by police during the strike. Another 10 died during the events leading up to the mass shooting.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development reports that the remaining 48 cases are pending before the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Pretoria High Court and the process of finalizing the claims is underway.
The strike later turned violent, with 44 lives lost.
The Marikana incident forced the government to think about developing new policies to address the issue in the future. This will also apply to the service delivery protests that continue to flare up in the country’s townships across the country.-Additional reporting by Abongile Dumako
